The Lost Children
by Boo2020
Summary: Female children in Kurain Village can begin channeling spirits at very young ages. The problem? They can't control who they channel, when, or for how long.


A/N: Before anyone comments about it, this is not compliant with what we know of spirit channeling in canon, and I'm aware of that.

* * *

Maya has often been told by the other mothers in Kurain how lucky she is to have a quiet baby. She knows it, too, and she's grateful for it. Her baby, her precious, perfect little daughter, only four months old, hardly makes a peep at night. She goes to bed and sleeps, rarely waking up or causing a fuss. The other moms tell her how jealous they are, and Maya feels oddly proud of the fact that her child is so calm and quiet compared to the others.

Her daughter's quiet demeanour is the reason Maya is so concerned when she wakes up one night and hears her crying, louder than Maya has ever heard, even on the rare times she has woken up at night. She crawls out of bed hurriedly, her mother's instincts telling her to be quick, that there must be something wrong for her baby to be making such noise.

She breathes a sigh of relief when she gets to her daughter's room and finds her safe in her crib, although she's still crying. Maya wonders if maybe her good luck has run out, perhaps it's finally her turn to be subjected to early morning feedings and diaper changes.

She walks up to the crib to peer down, wanting to soothe her baby, but when her eyes land on her daughter she realizes that the baby in the crib is no longer hers. The baby in the crib is still wearing the pink onesie with the bunnies on it, but to Maya, who has spent hours staring lovingly into the face of her daughter since she was born, it's obvious that this baby is not hers.

She stays calm, knowing it's nothing to worry about; not in Kurain Village. New mothers to female children in Kurain are warned about the possibility of their daughters having spirit channeling abilities; abilities that they can't control when they're young. As the Master, Maya knows more about it than most, and she knows it's rare for a child to start channeling _this_ early; before they can even walk or talk. It's the mark of a true prodigy, and Maya feels even prouder of her daughter.

Her pride lasts only a moment; up until she realizes that the baby crying in the crib is someone else's child. A child that left the world much too soon, a child whose parents miss them even now, a child who can't speak to her to tell her their name or who their parents were or even how they died.

All Maya can do is scoop the child into her arms and begin to rock them back and forth. The baby is chubbier than her daughter and has green eyes and is squirming in her arms, but when Maya starts to sing her daughter's favourite lullaby softly, they finally quiet down, closing their eyes and calming down in her arms.

The channeling only lasts for a few minutes before her daughter releases the spirit. Children with newfound channeling ability are never able to hold onto spirits for long, and it's no exception for Maya's infant daughter. Maya's somewhat surprised it lasts as long as it does.

It's a calm moment as her daughter comes back to her, opening her blue eyes and staring up at her. Maya smiles and leans down to kiss her before placing her back in her crib.

She sits down in the rocking chair not far from her daughter's crib. She wipes at her cheeks, surprised to find a few tears sliding down them. While proud of her daughter, who Maya now knows is going to be a spirit medium with powers unlike any they've had in Kurain Village for years, she's sad for the family whose child she's just comforted. Maya can't even imagine the pain they must have gone through, losing their baby at such a young age.

She makes a vow to herself that night, that any time her daughter channels the spirit of a baby lost too soon, Maya will love and comfort that child for its short time back in the world, before they're released back to the spirit world to rest once again. It's the least she can do when she thinks of the parents of that child, somewhere in the world, not able to hold their baby anymore.

Before she gets up to leave the room to go back to her bed, Maya says a silent prayer to all the spirits in Kurain for her daughter, because she's lucky. Her baby gets to come back to her.


End file.
